Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 21: Skipper Najla scored a power-packed half-century to help Kerala script a convincing 5-wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir in the Women’s U-23 T20 Trophy at 22 Yards Salt Lake, Kolkata today.
Chasing a modest target of 100 runs, Kerala batters struggled in the early part of their innings and were 19/3 in 4.5 overs as J&K bowlers led by the trio of Mariya Noorain, Arveen Riyaz and Ananaya Sharma, bowled with disciplined line and length to make the task difficult for their rivals.
However, Najla played a brilliant innings of 54 runs off 49 balls, studded with 6 fours and 2 sixes to guide Kerala to a convincing victory by 5 wickets. Sourabya P and Joshitha VJ contributed unbeaten 15 and 13 runs to the total respectively.
At one stage, Kerala needed 32 runs in last 5 overs with 6 wickets in hand. However, military medium Mudhu Devi went for 16 runs in the 16th over to make the task easier for Kerala. Finally, Kerala chased the target in 18.4 overs by losing 5 wickets to win the match by 5 wickets.
For J&K, Mariya Noorain took 2 wickets by conceding 21 runs in 3.4 overs, while Arveen Riyaz and Ananaya Sharma claimed one wicket each. Arveen was the most economical bowler, conceding just 7 runs in her 4 overs.
Earlier, winning the toss and electing to bat first, J&K scored a modest total of 99 runs in the stipulated 20 overs, losing 5 wickets in the process.
Chitra Singh Jamwal once again top scored with 45 runs off 61 balls, studded with 6 boundaries, while Bawandeep Kaur contributed 32 runs off 28 balls with 4 fours and one six. Skipper Rudrakshi Chib also contributed 15 off 24 balls with one boundary.
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